One Last Night (6 page)

“It’s okay. I’m just kind of nervous today, with everything going on.”

“Of course,” he replied, folding his long limbs to sit down next to me. “You know, I have to say, I’m really excited to finally meet you. Sam has told me such wonderful things. And you’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”

My creep-o-meter exploded off the scale and it took everything I had to avoid scampering away from him. “Th-thanks.”

“Yeah, you’re definitely his type. A real Amazon kind of woman. Did he tell you we used to always fall for the same girls? We were very competitive.”

I twisted my face in what I hoped was an approximation of a smile. Was he hitting on me? Now, with everything, and this weirdness about Sam’s location?

“Anyway, since we’ve got a little time alone, tell me about yourself. I want to know more about the girl who’s got my man so twisted in knots.”

“Um…shouldn’t we figure out where Sam is? And Anna?”

“Who?” he asked absently, his eyes raking over my body.

“My friend Anna. When Sam left he said you’d found her.”

Fabian shrugged. “Oh, right. Sure.” He slung an arm over the back of the sofa and slid closer to me. “There’s plenty of time for that.”

I shoved to my feet, enraged. “Look, I don’t know what you’re playing at here, but I need to know what’s going on. I’ve been patient, but I’m worried.”

“Honey, relax.” He patted the leather next to him. “Sit down.”

“No. Just tell me what’s going on.”

He chuckled. “You’re a spitfire. I bet he loves that, too.”

“Damn it-” I started to say when the paused DVD started playing again.

We both turned to the screen as the sound blared from the speakers.

“Hey, where’d you find that?”

“In the cabinet,” I said. “It’s yours?”

“Yeah. A gift from Sam. What do you think of the flick?”

“Not really my style.” I reached down for the remote to turn it off, but froze in the middle of the motion. The movie. The weird gesture. Sam. Fabian. I thought back to the warehouse where I’d seen the large man who also made that gesture. The one who looked enough like Sam from a distance to fool anyone. “Oh my god,” slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

Fabian’s smile disappeared, melting quickly from his face. A cruel sneer replaced it. “Uh-oh, looks like you just figured something out. Tell Johnny all about it.”

I thought about how far the panic room door was. How fast I could get there. I plastered a fake smile on my face and tried to buy myself some time. “Oh, sorry. Just being silly. You know, worried about my friend. And Sam, of course.”

“Sure, right.” His tone was casual and friendly but his dark eyes were flat and humorless.

“Um, I’ve been so rude. Can I get you something to eat or drink? There’s beer and some liquor. No real food, but plenty of snacks.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ve been staying here, remember?”

I laughed nervously. “Of course. I forgot. Well, still. Want anything?”

“I want to know what you were just thinking about.”

I bit down on my lower lip and took a step away from him. “Nothing important.”

“Mmhmm. Tell me anyway.”

“I swear, it was nothing.”

“No? Are you sure? Because I think it was something. I think you were wondering if you could get away from me quickly. Get out the door or maybe into the panic room before I caught you. And let me tell you, there’s no chance.”

I started running while he was still talking. But I was only halfway across the room when he reached and tackled me. We hit the ground hard, my face and chest slamming into the brushed concrete with enough force to push all the air out of my lungs.

I gasped and tried to move, but it was like having a truck on my back. Fabian covered my entire body with his, trapping my legs between his knees, and reaching to capture my hands.

With a grunt, I squirmed and bucked, trying to get enough leverage to free myself, but it was impossible. He wrapped one arm around my neck and pulled up, choking off my supply of air. I stopped moving, knowing any motion would just make it worse.

“Good girl,” he said. “Smart with big tits. Now I get what the fuss is all about. What a shame you’re a lying bitch.”

“Let me go.”

“Not just yet. We need to have a little chat.”

“Fuck you,” I spat out.

“Cute. Any maybe, another time. I’m kinda busy right now.” He kept his grip on my throat but started to stand, pulling me up with him. He shuffled backwards and over to the loveseat. “I’m gonna let go now. You will sit down and behave or I’ll shoot you. You should be able to feel the gun under my shirt.”

I could, and I nodded.

“Excellent.” He loosened his grip and I took two gulping breaths. “Now sit.”

When he released me I didn’t even consider doing anything but what he’d ordered. I sat down and glared up at him. “What did you do to Sam?”

“Me? Nothing. He’s my oldest friend. But, the boys I had pick him up? They’re somewhat unpredictable. Who knows what fun they might be having with your boyfriend right now.”

“And Anna?”

“Who? Oh, your little friend? Don’t worry about her.”

“Why do you say that?”

“There’s nothing you can do for her anymore.”

My heart stopped beating and I sobbed loudly. “No.”

Fabian shrugged and pulled the gun out from under his shirt. “Casualties of war, honey. If you don’t want Sam to be the next one, I suggest you start cooperating.”

I could barely hear what he was saying. All I could think about was Anna. Her smile, her practiced laugh she thought was sexy but I always found silly. The hours and hours we’d spent behind the counter at Angelo’s dreaming of the future and the things we’d do more exciting than serving pizzas. None of those dreams would ever come true for her and it was my fault. I was horrified and ashamed. To think I’d taken time to make up with Sam, sleep with him while she was – I couldn’t even think the word.

“Interesting,” Fabian said. “I would have pegged you for a screamer. Anyway, I don’t have time for you to mourn. Let’s get down to business.”

I pushed down everything I was feeling. Used what I learned to control my panic attacks to rage to lock away the sadness and the rage and the fear. “What do you want from me?”

“The same thing we’ve been asking for. All the documentation. Whatever form it’s in, I want it right now.”

“I told your
associate
at the motel. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“And I know you’re lying. So stop it.”

“I am not lying. I don’t have any disks or whatever the fuck you think I have.”

“Of course you do. And you’ll hand them over, one way or another. If we have to take Sam apart piece by piece in front of you, we will get what we want.”

Tears dripped from my eyes and I buried my face in my hands. It was too much. I couldn’t control my emotions. “Please. If I knew anything, I would tell you. If I had anything, I’d give it to you. I don’t. You have to believe me.”

“I’m not sure what to believe. But tell me this. How’d you know? Why were you so scared of me?”

I looked up, surprised. “What?”

“You were wary from the second I came in. And then you freaked. Tell me why. The truth.”

I stared into his cold eyes, shivering. “I saw you.”

“Huh?”

“At the warehouse. The big one. I saw you with that woman. At the time I thought it – never mind. But I saw you. You did that thing with your hand. The thing from the movie.”

“Well,” he said, chuckling. “That’s rather impressive. You’re pretty clever, putting it all together. It’s lucky for me that my good friend Sam isn’t quite so smart.”

“He is smart. But he talks about you like family. He couldn’t imagine you’d do this. Betray him like this.”

Fabian threw back his head and laughed. “Oh yeah, you’re a tough one. That’s cute. I don’t give a shit. Sam’s a boy scout. Always has been. Loves all that bullshit like honor and duty. The rest of us live in the real world. I’m not a delusional idiot like him.”

I burst up from the seat, throwing my entire body weight at him. Catching Fabian off-guard was enough to send him tumbling backwards. He landed on the corner of the glass coffee table and shouted out in pain.

Not stopping to see any more, I fled for the front door. It was still open a tiny bit and I slid it all the way over and went out into the hallway. I ignored the elevator and made my way through the fire exit and down the stairs.

I was half a flight down when I heard footsteps pounding above me. Knowing there wasn’t time to waste, I pushed harder, flying over the steps. I hit a landing and was rounding a corner when a wave of searing heat slammed into my shoulder and I fell.

In slow motion I saw the walls tilt as I was spun around. A loud boom echoed in the stairwell. The last thing I saw before my head hit the ground and everything went black was Fabian’s feet rushing down the steps towards me.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a wall with peeling paint. I turned my head to the left and moaned as pain radiated out from my shoulder. I looked down, blinking in the dim light. The arm of my shirt was torn off and a bandage was wrapped around me. Beneath it my skin throbbed and my muscles screamed.

I looked around again, this time slowly. I was in a basement boiler room or something similar. It was filthy and smelled slightly damp. I tried to raise my good arm but discovered I was cuffed to a pipe attached to the wall behind me. Above my head there was a tiny, dirty window. If I craned my neck I could just see outside. The sun was setting. I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious, but it had to be hours.

After a few seconds of looking up, my vision swam and I felt nauseous. Concussion, maybe. Whatever the cause, I was in bad shape. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t going anywhere. I stomped the heel of one bare foot on the ground and yelped as the motion caused another flare of agony in my shoulder.

The pain cleared my head a little and memories came flooding back. Sam. The safehouse. Fabian. Anna. My god, Anna.

Fabian. I’d run away from him. Down some stairs. There was a fire. No, not a fire. An explosion? No, that wasn’t it either. A gunshot. Yes. Fabian had shot me in the shoulder as I tried to escape.

It all fit, but didn’t make sense. If he’d shot me, who bandaged my arm? Why wasn’t I dead?

“What the hell is going on?” I asked the empty room.

As soon as I spoke there was a click to the right of me. A door opened and Fabian walked in. I shrank back, earning another hot knife of pain for my efforts.

“Carly, how nice of you to wake up. I thought we’d be stuck all night waiting for you.”

“Where am I?”

He grinned, the expression wide and terrifying. “Don’t you recognize it? Ah, that’s right. You never made it downstairs on your last visit. Though I saw you spent quite a lot of time traipsing around on the first floor. Watching the footage later was quite entertaining.”

“Footage? What are you talking about?” My brain was still a bit foggy, and it took me a few moments to figure out what he was trying to tell me. “The warehouse. With the security camera room.”

“Very good. Is it nice to be back?”

“Not really,” I replied dryly.

“Still got your spunk. How nice. Now, be a good girl and sit still. I need to check your bandages.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“Believe me,” he said, approaching slowly. “The last thing I want to do is play nursemaid to you, girl. But the doctor who patched you up is long gone and I can’t have you dying on us. Not after all this.”

“That’s a heartwarming tale. Stay away from me.”

He cocked his head to the side and sighed, as if dealing with a tiresome child. “Whatever. Frankly, I hope you die. Down here all by yourself. So close to your beloved and so far. I wonder if he’ll feel it as you slip away? Is this legendary ‘connection’ between you that strong?”

“I-Sam’s here?”

“Of course. And if you behave yourself you both might even live through the night.”

I didn’t believe a word of it. I was only alive now because they still thought I had some files or information. Once they realized I didn’t, Sam and I were both goners. No way they’d bring me back to the drug operation’s headquarters, or backup location or whatever the hell the place was, otherwise.

“Let me see Sam. If you let me see him I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“You’re in no position to make deals right now.”

“Aren’t I?” I had no idea where this brazenness came from. Maybe it was brain damage, or blood loss, but I felt no fear. Just anger and disgust. “You’ve been chasing me all over the county to try and get your hands on what I’ve got. Here’s your chance.”

“I thought you said you didn’t have anything. Got a new story to tell now?”

“Just let me see Sam and I’ll spill everything I know. I swear. If I don’t you can just go ahead and kill me anyway. What’s the harm?”

Fabian looked thoughtful for a moment, as if considering my offer. He walked over and knelt down in front of me so his face was close to mine. “If I had my way, I’d do it. Take you across the tunnel to him. Let you have a tearful reunion. And then I’d blow his brains out right in front of you.”

I stomach roiled and I bit back a whimper. I could imagine that scene all too clearly.

“But it isn’t up to me. Boss man says we handle it this way for now. But don’t try my patience, Carly. There’s a limit.”

My heart sank. I’d hoped stalling might buy me some time to do…something. But he wasn’t willing to play anymore.

“Fine, fine. Look, I told you the truth before. I don’t know anything. I don’t have anything. I can’t give you something that doesn’t exist.”

“Ah, but there’s the problem I got. It does exist. We know that. So all your little lies aren’t going to work.”

“How can you possibly know I have something I don’t?”

“Stop messing around and tell me where it is.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I shouted.

Fabian snarled and squeezed my shoulder through the bandage. I screamed and almost passed out from the pain. He made a creepy hissing sound and yanked me to my feet. The cuffs pulled at my arm and a wave of nausea went through me.